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Citizens Oppose More Electric Power Lines

Posted by Trish Riley, June 19, 2009

GoGreenNation: Do we really need more electrical transmission lines? Power companies across the country are pushing for new lines, saying that increases in power demand will skyrocket in the coming years, and that they need federal and state funds to build more lines in preparation for the surge. Yet at the same time, we know that we can effectively decrease our energy consumption through efficiency, as California has already demonstrated, without reducing our comfort levels, which will reduce future demand for electricity. In addition, while electric providers refute the claims, scientific questions about the safety of electromagnetic waves emitted from power lines are being raised. And we know that such lines can cause fatalities when damaged in storms and accidents, exposing an electrocution risk.

Opponents of the project charge the line will ruin their properties, endanger their health and is not needed. The real purpose, they say, is to move electricity from a coal-fired plant in West Virginia to lucrative east coast markets. Alternatives, they say, include putting the lines underground or building smaller, more modern facilities to generate electricity closer to demand.

The companies contend that putting the lines underground is not possible and that radiation from high tension lines has never been proven to be a health hazard.